


Mostly Treats

by Jadesymb



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Foster Care, Foster Parent, Foster System, Gen, Halloween, Happy Ending, Trick or Treating, child endangerment, spoopy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-28 07:51:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5083822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadesymb/pseuds/Jadesymb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarah didn't want a new home.  That doesn't mean that Jackson won't provide one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> alternativename- I am so sorry. They had this awesome request that I really did try to write, but the fic just didn't want to come, and was really, super terrible. I ended up scraping the story based on their prompt, and then writing this one instead. It's in the spirit of what they wanted, but completely lacks the pairing. I am so sorry. I tried to keep it Spoopy for you, and I hope you enjoy it.

The ear fell down down again, and Sarah couldn’t help but growl irritably as she attempted to straighten it back up. Honestly, she probably wouldn’t have even realized she had done it except Jackson, predictably listening, poked his head around the corner.

“I didn’t know bunnies growled like that!” he commented with a smile. 

Sarah paused to meet his eyes, examine him. Jackson had a nice face, and it looked like his smile reached his eyes, but she had learned to be very careful. 

“My ear won’t stay up,” she huffed quietly at him. He nodded sagely as he reached his hand out to her bunny mask.

“May I?” he questioned, pausing. Sarah nodded and Jackson attempted to straighten the ear, after a minute or so, he seemed to have it fixed correctly. “Are you sure you want to be a bunny? Not something scary for Halloween?” 

“I don’t want to be scary,” Sarah responded, aghast at the suggestion. 

“Okay, whatever you want to be. Are you ready to go to Stiles’ party? And you can play with all the other kids. Laura will be there, and she is only a little older than you,” Jackson reminded her. 

Sarah liked playing with Laura. Laura had been nice when they went over see Jackson’s friends before. Sarah didn’t really want to make friends though. Friends only meant you had someone to lose. Still, Sarah knew the best thing to do was to play along, act normal, so she simply nodded her head in agreement.

Jackson let out a deep sigh as he lead Sarah down to the car. She let him lift her into the car, even though she was more than big enough to climb into her booster seat herself. Sarah was gazing out the window, not really looking at the view, until Jackson turned the car up the drive to the big house. As soon as he stopped, Sarah unbuckled and scrambled out of the car.

“Come on, the kids are all playing in the backyard,” Jackson called over to her, and Sarah followed him around to the gate. All of the kids were running around and playing, dressed in various costumes. Laura was already in a costume, and she told Sarah proudly that her whole family had a theme for costumes. 

Sarah huffed out a sigh as she shuffled into the group, not really wanting to play, but knowing she needed to try and act normal. 

Sarah kept an eye on the adults grouped together talking at the edge of the yard. She ran and played tag and hide and seek, but mostly, she watched and waited.

Eventually, Stiles and Jackson slipped into the house. Sarah knew how to be silent, how to hide slow her body, make herself blend into the night. She creeped up below the window and listened to them, silent in the night. Her parents had taught her well.

“I’m telling you, she’s something. Maybe a werewolf, maybe a fox, who knows. You should have heard her growl at herself earlier, Stiles. I just, I don’t know how to reach her.” Jackson sounded exasperated.

“I know Jacks, but let’s face it, you were the only one who could take her in right now. I’ve got a full house, and since she’s in the foster system, there is no getting around the rules for her. Hell, we were lucky that I pushed everyone in the pack to get the foster parent status a few months ago, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to do anything to help her,” Stiles replied.

“That’s my point. I don’t feel like I’m helping her. I mean, the police reports told us almost nothing, she won’t even give anyone her last name. She mostly sits and watches. She doesn’t like to run and play. The teacher called me yesterday to say that she thought Sarah was erie, wanted me to get her more counseling. She’s been with me for a month and other than being able to tell you some of her food and color preferences, I don’t know that much about her. I’m not getting through. I feel like I’m failing her. Maybe she needs to spend more time with you. Or with Scott. With someone who is better with kids, anyway.” 

“Dude. She likes you. She’s opened up to you more than anyone else. We can’t let her slip back into the general foster system. She’s a supernatural, she needs a pack. She needs people who understand. I just wish other packs weren’t so fearful. It makes it so hard to track them down when there are lost kids like this. I mean, they had to be living off the grid for us to still have no information about who she is or where she came from. Danny hasn’t even been able to get us information. We’ve just got to show her that she can trust us, trust you. Then hopefully we can find her pack.” 

Sarah could hear the men moving, suspected that they might be hugging it out or something.

“And if we don’t find them?” asked Jackson.

“Then we wait and see how long it takes the system to put her up for adoption and we keep fostering in the meantime. If you can’t keep her, I can start looking for another place for her. It may take some time though.” 

Sarah heard Jackson’s voice again but couldn't make out his response as the men moved out of the room. 

She was super frustrated. 

She knew she was causing trouble for this pack, she knew it, but she didn’t know what to do about it. She had promised that she wouldn’t tell anyone what she was, who she was, because that was safer for her, safer for everyone. She just had to keep her head down and stay quiet, that was what was safe. Another part of her though, a part of her that was getting louder every day, pointed out that she didn’t want to live her whole life like that, and that there was no end in sight, no safety ever. How was she supposed to do this? 

She just felt so lost.

“Sarah! There you are!” Laura hollered as she came around the corner. “It’s almost time to go trick or treating! Come in the house so we can get ready!” 

Resigned, Sarah followed Laura and joined the growing group from the party. Working to shift her behavior back to “normal” she focused on crowd. Everyone in Stiles’ family was going as some sort of Star Wars character. Derek and Stiles were dressed as Jedi, and Laura as Ahsoka Tano, while her brothers and sisters covered a little something from every movie. 

Soon, the entire crowd set off down the street, somewhere around twenty-five or so kids. Honestly, Sarah couldn’t seem to get an accurate count. They seemed to be picking up more trick or treater's as they moved down the street. 

They trundled in mass up to the first house, and she waited while a couple of kids argued over who got to ring the bell. The door finally was opened, and the entire group cried “Trick or Treat” in unison. The nice person opening the door laughed, and began passing out candy. 

They continued this pattern, although they were slowly spreading themselves out as the older kids rushed from house to house, the smaller ones attempting to keep up. Sarah was complimented on her costume and sent bouncing down the path to the next house, her bag a little more full with each stop. 

Sarah decided Trick or Treating was awesome. She couldn’t help but have fun, smiling and laughing with the other kids. She’d never been trick or treating before, and it had been so amazing to meet all the nice people around town, to be given treats and treated like a normal person. How did the pack her manage to have such a normal life?   
She’d almost forgotten her problems when she heard a familiar whistle in the trees. She jerked her mask off and looked out into the preserve, falling behind the group. 

It couldn’t be possible, could it? 

But the sound came again, faint, but sure. Sarah glanced at the others, but no one was looking at her. It had to be now.

She bolted into the woods, heading for the source of the whistle. No one called to her from the road, and she let herself shift as she disappeared into the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

“Stiles! Where did Sarah go? She was right here!” 

Jackson could feel panic rising in him. How long had Sarah not been with them? He swore she’d been right there just a minute ago. He didn’t wait for Stiles to reply, he started backtracking immediately, tipping his head into the air in order to catch her scent. Just thinking about losing Sarah made his heart hurt. He’d totally meant for this to be temporary, but the longer she had stayed in his life, the more he found he wanted there. Jackson struggled to keep his speed to only human fast, but thankfully found her trail quickly.

By the time he was off the sidewalk and disappearing into the preserve, he was sure she couldn’t have been missing for more than five minutes. He glanced around and realized he was out of site enough that it was safe to use his preternatural speed to gain on her. 

When he saw her white costume against the treeline, he felt a flood of relief. 

“Sarah!” he called as he came upon her. She turned and he lifted her into his arms, hugging her tight before he had time to think about it. “Are you okay honey?”

“Yeah, Jacks, I’m okay,” and then surprisingly, she was hugging him back. She hadn’t done that before, and Jackson could feel his eyes fill with tears. He forced himself to blink them back. He didn’t cry, at least never where others could see, if possible. He needed to be the strong one. 

“You scared me so badly. Please don’t wander off like that. I want to be able to keep you safe.” Jackson voice was raspy with honesty. He forced himself to put her back down and take her hand, “Come on little one, let’s go find the others and finish up the trick or treating.” 

She followed him mutely until they got back to the neighborhood, and then was off with a happy smile to finish gathering her candy. Jackson couldn’t remember ever seeing her smile like that before. She was absolutely radiant. He wanted badly to ensure she stayed that way. 

It seemed that the houses around them suddenly began to turn dark, and then it was time to head back home. Sarah’s smile slipped some as they loaded up into the car, but her overall air of happiness remained. Jackson backed out and began down the road, glancing at the little girl in her seat.

“So, Sarah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something important,” Jackson watched as her eyes met his in the mirror before continuing. “I know that things are up in the air right now, and we don’t know what the long term plans are, but I wanted to know, that if it was an option, would you like to stay with me? Permanently?” 

“But you didn’t even want me! You just told Stiles you wanted to give me away!” The words seem to fly from her mouth, and, based on her surprised expression, she hadn’t meant to say them at all. 

Jackson realized this was a stupid discussion to have in the car. He sighed as he pulled over on the side of the road and turned to look at her.

“I told Stiles, when you were supposed to be playing, that I wasn’t sure I was helping you. He convinced me that I might be. And it’s true, I hadn’t planned on having any kids. But Isaac became a social worker and figured out that the small percentage of foster kids that are supernatural are being failed by the system. Kids like you. Then he and Stiles worked together to figure out how to flag those kids, so that my pack can help them. Part of that meant that my Alpha, Scott, forced me to get certified to foster. I did it, but I wasn’t expecting to ever use it. I love my job and I work long hours, but I think we can work something out. I just feel bad about you being stuck at school in aftercare. None of that means I don’t want you. The longer you’ve lived with me, the more I want you to stay.” He waited for her to absorb all his words.

“But there are a lot of kids in aftercare with me! And most of them are with their real parents. They don’t mind, and neither do I,” she responded with a vehemence that surprised Jackson. 

He sighed, and made the decision to skip on discussing “real” parents. It had taken him a long time to accept that his adoptive parents were his real parents, and that his birth parents were no less his real parents either. Now was not the time, but he made a mental note to discuss these things later. 

“Sarah, what I’m saying is that I think we can work this out, if you want to try. Or, if you want us to try and find your family, where you came from, when you feel like you can trust me, you can tell me all your details, and we’ll work with Stiles to see what we can find, okay? No pressure.” 

Jackson watched her nod sharply at him, and then her eyes drifted back out the window to the dark Halloween night. 

He took that as his cue to continue, and carefully eased his way back on the path home. Stiles, as always, had been right. Jackson had opened his heart to Sarah, and he knew now he’d do whatever it took to keep her safe and happy.

Pleased that the conversation had gone better than expected, he turned on some Monster Mash to keep them entertained along the way.


	3. Chapter 3

Sarah was pretty sure that Jackson was asleep. 

She moved as silently as a cat, sitting up and checking the clock in the corner. Midnight on Halloween night, time for all the scary creatures moving about. Sarah supposed that it was fitting then that she was up and moving. 

She emptied her school backpack of all its items, and instead put a couple of outfits in the bag, along with the stuffed cat that Jackson had given her on the first night she had been here. Then she crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. 

She grabbed a few granola bars, some water bottles, and various stuff from the pantry, but then she spied her bag of Halloween candy. She was loathe to leave it, and in the end, she added the bag of candy to the backpack. She had to really struggle to get the backpack zipped once it was full, but she figured it worth it if she got to keep her candy. 

Sarah debated leaving a note for Jackson, but in the end, she was worried that she would be late if she took the time to try and write a note. Her handwriting was still bad, and she couldn’t spell very well yet. 

She slung her backpack onto her back and tiptoed over to the back door, silently slipping out and into the backyard. 

From there, it was simple enough to hop the back fence and scurry to the main road, she followed it for almost a mile before she reached the intersection, and then she finally felt she was far enough away from Jackson to risk it.

“Rosa? Are you out there?” she hollered, not too loudly, as it was so late at night.

No answer. 

Of course not. 

Sarah tipped her head back and smelled the air, finally getting a lock on Rosa. She was down the street a bit, behind what seemed to be a mostly abandoned row of stores. 

“Rosa?” Sarah called, and her older sister’s head snapped up. She must have been dozing.

“SARAH!” Rosa was up and dragged Sarah into a tight embrace. Sarah clung to her sister so tightly that she was worried she might hurt her. It had been so long, and Sarah had been convinced that Rosa was dead. 

She tucked her face into her sister and felt herself begin sobbing. She hadn’t realized how much she was holding in until that moment. She found that now that she had started, she couldn’t stop, the sobs just kept coming, uncontrollable. Rose just held her and rocked her. 

By the time Sarah started to finally control her crying, she realized that her older sister had sat down with Sarah cradled in her lap. Rosa’s stomach gave a loud rumble, and Sarah’s tears turned suddenly to laughter. 

“Here,” she said through her tears and her giggles. She squirmed until she got her backpack off, opened it up, and thrusted the contents at her sister. 

Rosa grinned gleefully, pushed Sarah out of her lap, and leaned against the wall, with the backpack between them. Rosa started in on the Halloween candy, stuffing an entire mini milky way in her mouth.

“So,” Sarah said after a few minutes of them decimating her haul, “what happened to Mom and Dad? To Carlos?” But she knew for sure, by her older sister’s sudden stillness, that they must be dead. 

It took Rosa a few minutes to work up to telling the story and Sarah had never heard her sister’s voice sound so soft and sad. “When the hunters came, Mom sent you off while Dad had them distracted. They shot dad pretty much right away, and he died. It was quick.” Rosa looked down at Sarah, and frowned before continuing, “Mom died attempting to save Carlos, and that was... less quick.” 

Rosa took a breath. “Carlos didn’t make it either. They caught me, but once they realized that I wasn’t a shifter, they said they had no use for me. They tried to make me tell them where you would have gone, but I really didn’t know. It took me this long to track you down myself. I just can’t believe I found you,” Rosa finished as she hugged Sarah tightly.

“It’ll be okay now, right? Cause we’re together again?” Sarah’s voice seemed small even to her. 

“We’ll go on the road. I look older than I am. Surely I can find away to make some money, and we can camp, like we used to with Mom and Dad.” Rosa wrapped an arm around her.

“Cause that worked out so well,” Sarah mumbled to herself. She really wasn’t sure if this was the best plan, but she needed to stay with her sister. Her parents always told her she had to be careful and protect Rosa because Rosa was human and Sarah was a shifter. 

“Well, well, well, ain’t you two sweet,” came a voice from the shadows. Then a man stepped around a dumpster that was a little ways down from them. The scent of something rotting in the dumpster had kept Sarah from smelling him. 

Before either girl could get up, he leveled a gun at both of them. 

“NO! You said you’d leave me alone! That you don’t kill human girls!” Rosa screamed as she pushed Sarah behind her. 

“I don’t. And you’re perfectly safe little girl, assuming you step out of the way when I go to shoot the monster behind you.” Sarah saw him wave the gun a little bit from where she peeked around her sister. 

“No. I can’t. You already killed the rest of them. She’s just a little girl. Please, let her be.” Rosa was crying, Sarah could tell from the way her voice got all weedy. 

“Either you move, or you both die,” the man said the a chuckle. He must be a hunter, one of the ones who attacked Sarah’s family.

Suddenly, a familiar voice joined the fray: “I’ve got a better idea.” 

Sarah whirled, her back to her sister, to look at the new threat. Only instead of a threat, Jackson stood on the other side of them, and he had a gun too! 

“Why don’t you put the gun down before I shoot you where you stand,” said Jackson, “The police are already on their way.” 

“What? You called the police?” The man’s voice rose in confusion.

“Sure. You’re out here, threatening these two little girls with a gun. Of course I called the police. I only showed myself because I was afraid you’d shoot them before the police got here. But I can already hear the sirens.” Jackson tilted his head to one side, just a touch, but it must have been enough for the hunter. 

“You’re a shifter too. Why would you call the police? This isn’t their business. Why don’t we settle this between ourselves?” the hunter cajoled.

“No. You threaten little girls, you kill their families, you go to jail. That is the way it should be,” Jackson replied. 

Now Sarah could hear the sirens too. It would be all over in a matter of seconds.

“Now, put the gun down, and get on the ground, so the cops don’t shoot you when they show up,” Jackson told the hunter. 

“Maybe I’ll just tell them that you were attacking all of us,” he sneered back. 

Jackson laughed, he kept his gun trained on the man, but he totally laughed at the hunter. “You can try it. It won’t work, but you can try.” 

The hunter looked around desperately, his gun wavering as he did so. Time seemed to still as his indecision hung in the air, but finally the man lowered his gun. Sarah realized belatedly that he must have finally been able to hear the sirens. Maybe the hunter had thought Jackson was bluffing.

Still, Sarah couldn’t help but smile a little as Derek Hale stepped from the police car. Sarah knew that he was Stiles’ mate, Laura’s other dad. He must have gone to work after they finished Trick or Treating. Unlike Stiles, she knew that Derek was a werewolf, same as Jackson. He could totally handled the hunter now that the hunter didn’t have a gun.

Derek and his partner quickly took care of the hunter, approaching him fast, getting him to drop his weapon and putting the man in cuffs. Once he was secure, Jackson finally lowered his own gun, rushing towards Sarah’s side. 

She found herself wrapped up into her second Jackson hug of the night, his arms tight around her, his scent comforting in a way not even her sister’s had been. 

He smelled of home. 

She found herself clinging to him in response, burying her nose in his neck. When he finally set her down again, she found herself suddenly shy.

“Thank you, Jackson. I’m sorry I ran away,” Sarah said to her feet. 

“It’s okay little rabbit. Just don’t do it again. Who is your friend?” Jackson put a comforting hand on her shoulder as he spoke, kneeling in front of her.

“This is my sister. She survived. Nobody else did though,” Sarah said, still looking at her feet. 

Jackson looked over her shoulder to her sister.

“I’m Rosa Sanchez. This is my sister Sarah. Our family was killed by that man and his friends in the woods about two months ago. I’ve been looking for Sarah ever since,” her sister told him solemnly. 

“Hi Rosa. I’m Jackson. I’m Sarah’s foster dad. How old are you?” he questioned.

“I’m almost thirteen,” she replied defensively.

“Thirteen and you want to take care of your sister? That seems like a lot of work. Tell you what, I was hoping to watch over your sister too. Maybe you could come home with us and we could combine our forces? I’m told I order a tasty pizza.” Sarah could see Jackson’s smile.

“That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard in weeks,” Rosa said. 

Jackson stood and opened his arms, pulling Sarah, and then her sister into a hug. 

Maybe things were going to be okay after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked it! Spoopy Halloween everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you as always to my lovely editor [ArcticMel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcticMel/pseuds/ArcticMel). Couldn't do it without you.


End file.
